Towel cabinet



April 29, 1930. F. G. STEINER I 5 TOWEL CABINET Filed March 12, 1926 '5Sheets-Sheet 1 1 [nVznL of" ATTORNEYJ April 29, 1930. F. G. STEINER'1,756,765

TOWEL CABINET Filed March 12. 1926 s Sheets-Sheet s v [fluent or FRANK6. JTE/NE/P v24 MW 1477 ORNEYS Patented Apr. 29, 1930 UNITED STAT-ES PAT ENT OFF .I'RANKG. STEINER, or oHIcA'G'o, ILLINOIS, As'srGNoR ToSTEINER sA'IlEs some,

' or sA-nr LAKECITY, UTAH, A CORPORATIONOF UTAH TOWEL oABnvE'rApplication filed March 12, 1926. Serial No. 94,184.

My invention relates to that class of towel cabinets adapted fordispensing a comparatively-long web oftoweling,'the clean web be- 7 'ingdelivered from'aroll'or fold-of the'towel placed in one part of thecabinet while the soiled portionof the towel-is delivered to a takeup orwinding roll in another part of the cabinet. Feed rolls'a-re provided toengage the cleantowel web and the soiled portion of the towel operatedby the pull of the user on the clean portion of the web, provisionbeingmade-for corresponding'movement ofthe feed rolls to wind up a'l'ength ofweb correspondingtothe' clean portion delivered. The clean towelis putin'the cabinet and the web stretched to the feedrolls by the laundrydelivery man, or by the anitor or attendant of'the building where thecabinet maybe located, and the object of'm'y present invention is toprovide a cabinet of such construction that-the personiputtingf theclean towel therein can easily and quickly'stretch'the web of cleantowel -to its feed roll and then with equal facility can carry thisloose end up '25 through the back of the cabinetto the takeup roll,-sothat the operation of. removing the soiled towel and loadingfor fillinga cabinet with a clean'towel 'can'be expeditiously performed. '30 Afurther object is to provide a cabinet of simple inexpensiveconstruction and one which willpermit the convenient conversion of acabinet of earlier design'to one embodying the features of thisimprovement.

Other objects of the invention will'appear from the followingdetailed'description.

The invention consistsgenerally in various constructions andcombinations all as hereinafter describedand particularly pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part ofthisspecification,

- Figure l is a-verticalsectionalview-through a towel cabinetembodyingjmy invention,

'45 showing the inner-section tilted outwardly for convenience in r'loading the cabinet;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing'the cabi net closed withthetowelinrposition'therein "ready for use;

Figure 3is a detail sectional'viewshowing tended'on one endbeyondthe'walFof the'iir *ner section and carriesa' gear 1=7 w' hich p t witha similar gear T8 mouhtedonthes nthe preferred form of feed roll lockingde- V108 Figure lis a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure2.

In the drawing, 2 representsthe side walls,

3 the top, 4: the rear wall, and 5the doorof a towel cabinet of suitableproportions adapted to be supported vertically onthe'w'all or by othermeans so that the web of clean'towel will depend below the cabinetwithin 'conve'nient reach of the user. 6represents the side walls of aninner section of the cabinet'having-pre'ferably a rear wall 7 whichextends downwardly and across the lower ends of the side walls to formthe bottom of the inner trunnions 12 mounted in the lower forwardportions of the wall 6 of the inner section, these'trunnions formingpivots on which the inner section may swing freely to allow'the sectionto be tilted outwardly to the position shown in Figure l on return toits'no'rinal upright position as ilIustratedin'FigureQ. The seats 11arepreferably formed byproviding slots in the blocks '10 open 'at'th'etop s o that thetrunnions c'anbe easily inserted into the slots and asreadily removed therefrom, thereby allowing whenever desired'thecomplete separation of the inner se ction from'the outer one. Suitableflexible means 13 connect the innersection with the sidewalls 2 of thecabinet to limittlie outwar d tilting "movement of the inner section.

The sidewalls c, of the in'n e'r'sectionmay be provided with diagonally.arrangea slots 14-and a feed roll 1'5 has it's axis 16 journaled inthese slots to slide 'backwardly and forwardly therein. Thespihdle 1 6"is exnaled in theside walls of the section 6 above and near the feedroll 15. These rolls have sanded or roughened surfaces and are ofsubstantially the same diameter and operate at the some peripheral orsurface speed in oppo site directions resulting from their intergearedrelation, a dog 21 being provided to engage the teeth of the gear 19 andprevent backward movement of these rolls. vi hen the roll is at theinner end of the slots 14: its gear will mesh with the gear of the otherfeed roll and the surt'aces of the rolls will be rather too closetogether to allow the convenient passing of the clean web of towel overthe roll 15. When, however, the roll 15 is moved to the forward ends ofthe slot 1% the gearswill be disengaged and a considerable space will beprovided between the rolls so that the operator canfvery convenientlypass the clean web of towel over theroll 15.

. The side walls of the section 6 are preferably provided with verticalslots 22 adapted to receive the ends of a takeup roll 23 that ispositioned above and in the rear of the axis of the roll so that whenthe loose web of towel is wound on this talreup roll or spindle it willrest by gravity in contact with the roll 20and be revolved by suchcontact when roll 20 is operated through the revolution of the roll 15.These'rolls operating synchronously, it will be evident that as the userwithdraws a strip of clean towel fromthe feed ;roll 15 a correspondinglength of .towel will be wound on the take-up roll, and with the tiltingsection in the position illustrated in Figure 1, it will be evident thatthe operator can easily and quickly pass or thread the loose end of thetowel up in the rear of the tilting section between it and the back ofthe cabinet and deliver the end of this loose web to the takeup roll. Atension roll 24 is preferably provided below the roll 15 and between thecabinet preferably in advance of a shelf 26,.

, inthe pending application of Gottfrid Olson,

sidewalls 6 of the inner section and a similar roll 25 is providedbetween the walls 2 of the the web of towel contacting with the roll 25and being smoothed and guided thereby in its filed Dec. 19, 1925, Serialqiti6,528. This device comprises a lever 27 having arms 28 and 29thereon, the arm 29 having an end portion 30 projecting into the path ofa lug 31 on the adjacent end of the feed roll and the arm 28 havingahook'portion 28 to engage,

a pin 32 also on said roll. When the user depresses the lever 27 to thedotted'li'ne position shown in Figure'3, heidisengages the arm 29- Iroll mounted in said inclined slots in the in- 7 from the lug 31' andwhen the pin 32 in the revolution of the roll'engages the beveled edgeof the hook portion 28" the lever Q'Tis Luv 7 positively returned to itsraised position with the end 30 in the path of the lug 31 to positivelyarrest further movement of the roll,

and thereby permitting only one complete revolution of the roll witheach depression of the lever. 1

By making this inner section removable from the cabinet or adapted totilt forwardly with respect thereto, I am not only able to save time andlabor in'the operation of filling or loadinga cabinet but I provide aconstruction to which towel cabinets having their feed rolls mounted infixed bearings or supports can be 'converted at a comparatively smallexpense. the feed rolls from the cabinet in which they are supported,mount them in a tilting carrier support and then place this carrier orIt isonly necessary to remove support between the walls of the oldcabinet and thereby the old main portion is utilized while its interiorconstruction is converted or adapted to an arrangement or manner ofmounting the feed rolls which will greatly facilitate the filling orloading of the cabinet.

VJ hen the door of the cabinet is closed,

space or gap 33 is'provided between the lowor portion thereof and thewall 8 through which the clean web of the towel depends be low thecabinet and from thence is carried upwardly along the rear wall 7 to thetakeup roll andpreferably the rear wall 7 merges into the lower portionthereof on a curved line so that there will be no obstruction to thefree upward movement of the soiled towel web when the cabinet is in use.Stops '34: are preferably provided for limiting the inward movement ofthe inner section. I

To load the cabinet, the operator'will open the door, remove the soiledtowel; place the clean web of towel in the bottom of the inner sectionand carry the loose end of this web up over the clean roll 15, leaving aloop of su'liicient length depending below the cabinet and extending theloose end upwardly to the take up roll 23. The frictional contact ofthis web with the feed roll 20 will, when the rolls are operated,revolve the takeup roll and wind thereon a length of towel correspondingsubstantially to the length deliveredby the roll '15. lVhenever desired,the inner section may be entirely removed from the cabinet withoutdisturbing the mounting of the feed rolls in the inner section.

I claim as my invention: g

1. A towel cabinet comprising relatively movable outer and innersections having substantially open fronts said inner section havinginclined guide slots in said sides, a closure member for the, rear ofthe inner section, said;

inner section being adapted to receive a sup ply of clean towel in itslowerportion, a feed the relativelnovement of said inner and outer"sections changing said inclined slot to a practically horizontalposition adapting said feed roll to be conveniently ungeared from saidtake up roll and separated therefrom to allow the stretching of a clean.web thereover and when the inner section is moved outwardly the looseend of the web may be conveniently carried up between the inner sectionand the rear wall of the outer section to said take up 7 roll.

2. A towel cabinet comprising relatively movable outer and innersections having substantially open fronts, a closure member for the rearof the inner section said inner section being adapted to receive asupply of clean towel, a feed roll mounted in said inner section, a takeup roll mounted adjacent the feed roll, driving means between saidrolls, a slot in said inner section inclined to a line joining the axisof said rolls, said feed roll having a trunnion operable in said slotwhereby the movement of the trunnion in the slot will break saidconnection between the rolls and the relative movement of said inner andouter sections adapting said first named feed roll for convenientstretching of the clean web thereover and the convenient carrying of theloose end of the web up between the inner sec tion and the rear wall ofthe outer section to said take up roll.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day ofMarch, 1926.

FRANK G. STEINER.

